Lightning
Lightning is the main protagonist of Final Fantasy XIII, as well as the narrator and a temporary playable character in Final Fantasy XIII-2. She is to become the protagonist again for Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII. Biography The Legacy of Lightning *''Final Fantasy XIII (2009-2010)'' **''Final Fantasy XIII-2 (2011-2012)'' **''Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII (2013-2014)'' *''Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy (2011)'' *''Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (2012)'' *''Final Fantasy Airborne Brigade (2012)'' *''Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn (2013-2014)'' Appearance Lightning is a young woman with long, light pink hair, and pale aqua-colored eyes. Lightning's eye color has been officially addressed as blue, though in the FMVs and promotional art they often appear green due to green aspects around the pupil. She has a navel piercing, although this is difficult to see from her in-game model. Lightning no longer has the piercing in Final Fantasy XIII-2 or Lightning Returns. In Final Fantasy XIII-2 Fragments Before, Serah says Lightning resembles their mother. In Final Fantasy XIII, she wears a variation of the standard Guardian Corps uniform. The green metallic pauldron over her left shoulder bearing yellow stripes symbolizes her previous rank as a sergeant. She carries her gunblade in a black case which hangs off her belt, and wears a necklace with a lightning bolt pendant. Her l'Cie brand is located slightly above her left breast. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning wears a silver and gold Valkyrie-like suit of armor with a shield on her left arm (though in her CG render it appears on the right arm). She has a new gunblade modified to look more like a traditional sword, which has Etro script on it. In Lightning Returns, Lightning will have a number of different costumes. Her default outfit, Equilibrium, is similar to what she wore in Final Fantasy XIII-2. She has a red shield (Twilight Lotus) on her left arm and her sword is red and yellow (Crimson Blade), similar to Noel's Flame Fossil dual swords.2 The game's logo appears on her outfit a number of times; on her chest, her sword and her shield. Alongside this, director Motomu Toriyama revealed in an interview at the Tokyo Premium Event for the game that, in one of her outfits, a l'Cie "scar" is visible on her chest. Other outfits include the Dark Muse outfit that gives Lightning a camouflage jacket and a miniskirt, the Dust and Shadow costume that resembles a samurai armor, the L'Ange Noir costume which is reminiscent of a magician's dress, and the Sorceress costume which has Lightning wearing a two-piece top with a long skirt and white heels. In the Dark Muse costume, Lightning has tattoos on her body. One tattoo is of a horse and located just above her waist, and she also has a bar-code present on her thigh, located under an intricate tribal pattern. Personality In Final Fantasy XIII, Lightning is determined, concentrated and independent. Initially, she is cold and standoffish, distancing herself from her companions. Much of her motivation is fueled from what she perceives as failing to protect Serah and wanting to make things right, which leads her to lash out at those she believes are responsible for that and her l'Cie fate: namely, the Sanctum, its fal'Cie and, to a point, Snow Villiers, due to his relationship with Serah and his failure to protect her as he promised. As she journeys with Hope Estheim and takes him under her wing, Lightning begins to show compassion and trust others, and sees the errors in her approach. Ultimately, she becomes the leader and, to a degree, protector of the other Pulse l'Cie as they journey to challenge their fate. In Final Fantasy XIII-2, Lightning has learned to trust others and ask them for help. She expresses her emotions more rather than keeping them bottled up inside her. In Lightning Returns, Lightning has become cold and distant, most of her emotions sapped from her (although her memories remain intact). Her wish to save Serah remains, reinforced by the culpability she feels for her sister's death. Lightning still shows concern for her former allies, such as her worry upon hearing Snow has headed into a Chaos Infusion. She also feels resentment towards Bhunivelze because of his use of her situation to his advantage. Trivia Gallery Illustrations Renders Lightning.png|Final Fantasy XIII LightningFFXIII-2.png|Final Fantasy XIII-2 Lightning_-_LRFFXIII.png|Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII Category:Characters Category:Final Fantasy Category:Playable Characters Category:Female Characters Category:Good Characters Category:Non-human Characters Category:M.U.G.E.N Category:Characters Who Debuted in 2009